Department for Transport

Blue Badge Scheme

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of blue badges for disabled drivers held by people in England and Wales in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, and (3) 2015.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The estimated total number of Blue Badges held in England and Wales for 2013, 2014 and 2015 were: 2013: 2,776,0002014: 2,663,0002015: 2,597,000

Roads: Safety

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any new proposals to reduce significantly the number of road casualties.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Britain has some of the world’s lowest road casualty rates. But, in line with our Manifesto commitment, we are determined to do more to make our roads even safer. The British Road Safety Statement, published on 21 December 2015, sets out the Government’s priorities for action, including practical measures to help vulnerable groups stay safe on our roads, extra money to crackdown on drug drivers and tougher penalties for people using mobile phones while driving. Copies of the British Road Safety Statement are available in the Libraries of the House.

Road Traffic Control

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new proposals they have for tackling levels of congestion in towns and cities in the light of the reduction in police service numbers available for enforcement.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: I refer the Noble Lord to the answer I provided on 2 December 2015 (HL 3693) which clarified this Government has an ambitious strategy for tackling congestion in our cities and towns and improving performance on our roads. Local highway authorities who are responsible for managing the local road network have a statutory duty under the Traffic Management Act to provide better conditions for all road users and to help tackle congestion in towns and cities. The size and make-up of the police workforce is a matter for Chief Constables to determine locally in conjunction with their democratically-elected Police and Crime Commissioners and working with other local stakeholders. It is, therefore, ultimately a decision for the Chief Constable to deploy resources according to the priorities agreed in its policing plan.

Aviation: Greater London

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the safety of aircraft flying over heavily populated areas of West London, in the light of the laser attacks on aircraft pilots and the possible expansion of Heathrow Airport.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK aviation industry has an excellent safety record and safety is monitored continuously by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as safety regulator. The safety of the public is the first consideration in any decision-making process. The CAA has conducted extensive assessments of the risks to aircraft of laser attacks. The CAA Mandatory Occurrence Reports (MORs) provide statistical data on the frequency and geographical location of attacks on UK aircraft. In addition, the data provides details of the rate of reported attacks in relation to the number of aircraft movements at all UK airports including London Heathrow. The assessments are supplemented with further enhanced statistical analysis of the MORs by Imperial College London. The Government is actively working to draw together a plan to tackle the issues around the sale and misuse of lasers, and to ensure the safety of consumers and aircraft.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the draft bill to enable the extension of HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester will be published.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Government intends to deposit a hybrid Bill for HS2 from West Midlands to Crewe (HS2 Phase 2a) before the end of 2017. This will enable this section of route to open in 2027, six years earlier than originally planned. This means that cities across the North West and Scotland will realise more of the benefits of HS2 sooner. We intend to make a route decision for the rest of Phase Two in the autumn of 2016, with a view to introducing a third hybrid Bill before the end of the Parliament. This will enable the full network to open on time in 2033.

Roads: Tunnels

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what investigations they have conducted into the safety of long road tunnels, and what assessment they have made of the implications of those investigations for any proposed road tunnel under the Pennines.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The government has investigated the safety of long road tunnels as part of the strategic study into the Trans-Pennine Tunnel. Such tunnels are operated safely around the world and the Trans-Pennine Tunnel will be designed to be consistent with this.

Railways: South West

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they are proposing to discontinue the use of the Westbury East Loop Junction and Hawkeridge Junction line for passenger services, and whether such a change will prevent that line from being used for diversion routes for passenger services in future.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The proposal is to withdraw one regular passenger train service in one direction only Monday to Friday over this short curve on the grounds of low usage and for the service instead to serve the nearby important station of Westbury. The service was designated as experimental in 2011. The withdrawal of the experimental status for the passenger service in question does not affect the line itself, which will continue to remain open for diverted passenger trains and freight.

Heathrow Airport: Security

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with owners and managers at Heathrow Airport about improved security around the perimeter fence and in relation to aircraft while they are parked on the tarmac.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Department for Transport (DfT) is in regular contact with aviation industry operators on all aspects of aviation security. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) oversees industry’s compliance with aviation security measures. The CAA and DfT have been in contact with the relevant operators concerning the incident on 5 March. For obvious reasons the Government does not discuss the details of such contacts.

Department for Education

Teachers: Males

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they are making to increase the number of male teachers in state primary and secondary schools; and whether the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 are being observed in all teaching appointments to those schools.

Lord Nash: The Government values diversity in the workforce and we want the best and brightest people in the classroom, regardless of their gender. The quality of teaching is the single most important factor in determining how well pupils achieve and we want to see more great teachers in England’s schools.Between 2011/12 and 2014/15, the number of male teachers (FTE) has increased from 115,000 to over 119,000. In 2014/15, 26 per cent of teachers in publicly funded schools in England were male; this proportion has remained broadly stable over time.The proportion of entrants to primary postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) in 2015/16 that are male is 22 per cent, an increase of 2 percentage points since 2010/11. The proportion of entrants to secondary postgraduate ITT courses in 2015/16 that are male is 40 per cent, an increase of 2 percentage points since 2010/11. 34 per cent of entrants to School Direct (salaried) scheme in 2015/16 are male.It is the responsibility of schools and employers to comply with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.

Schools: Admissions

Baroness Pinnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to Main Finding 4 of the 2014 Annual Report of the Chief Schools Adjudicator relating to the admission arrangements of schools that are their own admission authority.

Baroness Pinnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to Main Finding 5 of the 2014 Annual Report of the Chief Schools Adjudicator relating to admission priority to Reception Year.

Baroness Pinnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to the findings of the 2015 Annual Report of the Chief Schools Adjudicator, and in particular its conclusion that "the application of fair access protocol procedures for children with special needs mostly works effectively. However, a small minority of schools do not co-operate fully and delay or strongly resist the admission of a child".

Lord Nash: The Department is giving careful consideration to the findings in the Chief Schools Adjudicator’s annual reports published in December 2014 and November 2015 as part of our current review of the School Admissions Code. We will be conducting a full public consultation in due course.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Closures

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for the housing of prisoners in the event of the closure of HM Prison Holloway and HM Prison Pentonville.

Lord Faulks: On 9 November 2015, the Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice announced their intention to build a prison estate which allows prisoners to be rehabilitated, thereby enabling them to turn away from a life of crime. This will involve closing old and inefficient prisons which do not support the aims of a redesigned estate and replacing them with modern facilities that support rehabilitation. The Secretary of State for Justice announced on 25 November 2015 that HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Holloway will close as the first part of this programme. The buildings at Holloway are poorly designed and the site is cramped. The majority of sentenced women will transfer to HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Downview, which we which will open this spring. Downview has been refurbished and will provide better facilities and more appropriate conditions for sentenced women than Holloway. However, where suitable, the opportunity is being taken to ensure sentenced women are placed in accommodation elsewhere that reflects their specific needs, including proximity to home. Many remand prisoners currently held at Holloway will move to HM Prison and Young Offender Institution Bronzefield, which has modern, high quality accommodation. No other decisions have yet been made about the future of other prisons in England and Wales.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Housing

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the policy of the Ministry of Defence on the retention of military quarters when there is a change of posting within 50 miles.

Earl Howe: Entitlement to Service accommodation at a duty station normally ends when the next assignment begins, whether or not the new duty station is within 50 miles of the previous location. However, Service personnel may apply to retain their Service accommodation at their previous duty station. The Ministry of Defence will consider each case in light of the policy criteria, taking account of all the factors specified within the application. Such factors may include a spouse's employment, children's education requirements and children's health and disability requirements.More information on the policy, how to apply, and the factors included within MOD's consideration, can be found at paragraph 0725 of Volume 1, Part 1 of the Tri-Service Accommodation Regulations (Joint Service Publication 464) which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jsp-464-tri-service-accommodation-regulations-tsars 



JSP464-Tri Service Accommodarion Regulations
(PDF Document, 2.42 MB)

Armed Forces: Housing

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Ministry of Defence takes into account (1) a spouse’s employment, (2) children’s education requirements, and (3) children’s health and disability requirements, when considering whether to relocate or retain military quarters for a couple or family in the context of a change of posting within 50 miles.

Earl Howe: Entitlement to Service accommodation at a duty station normally ends when the next assignment begins, whether or not the new duty station is within 50 miles of the previous location. However, Service personnel may apply to retain their Service accommodation at their previous duty station. The Ministry of Defence will consider each case in light of the policy criteria, taking account of all the factors specified within the application. Such factors may include a spouse's employment, children's education requirements and children's health and disability requirements.More information on the policy, how to apply, and the factors included within MOD's consideration, can be found at paragraph 0725 of Volume 1, Part 1 of the Tri-Service Accommodation Regulations (Joint Service Publication 464) which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jsp-464-tri-service-accommodation-regulations-tsars 



JSP464 - Tri Service Accommodation Regulations
(PDF Document, 2.42 MB)

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what testing has been done on software systems for UK F-35 Lightning II fighters for resistance to hacking.

Earl Howe: The F-35B Lightning II aircraft and its Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) have both been designed to be resilient against cyber attack and will be the subject of testing throughout the life of the programme.Risk assessments of the aircraft and ALIS vulnerability to cyber attacks are conducted continuously. In addition, all classified data transmission to and from the F-35B Lightning II aircraft is fully encrypted.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the communications capability for the UK’s F-35 Lightning II fighters allows full integration with the 4C capability of US variants.

Earl Howe: The UK's F-35B Lightning II aircraft will be able to communicate with all US variants of the F-35 and any other friendly forces on the same network.The sensor suite on the F-35B Lightning II allows pilots to see a single integrated picture of the battlespace and automatically communicate and share that data with other strike aircraft, including the US F-35, as well as other airborne, surface and ground-based platforms.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress is being made with the flight test programme for the UK’s F-35 Lightning II fighters.

Earl Howe: The F-35 fleet has now flown more than 50,000 hours (development test and production). This has included three periods of United States Marine Corps sea trials aboard the USS Wasp. The most recent of these was successfully concluded at the end of June 2015, within which the UK was fully integrated. Testing from UK aircraft carriers is due to start in 2018.The UK programme remains on track to deliver initial operating capability from land in 2018 and aircraft carriers in 2020.

Warships

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the National Security Council has been involved in establishing the national requirement of 19 destroyers and frigates, and whether close allies were also consulted.

Earl Howe: The National Security Council was consulted at each stage of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). It gave direction on the full strategic approach required from Defence, rather than individual capability planning decisions. This Review also featured unprecedented levels of consultation with our closest allies.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Faulks on 2 March (HL Deb, col 928), how many of those families of EU migrants in the UK that are supported by the benefits system, and which include at least one member who has arrived in the last four years, include (1) an adult member recorded for these purposes as of UK nationality, and (2) an adult member recorded for these purposes as a non-UK national who has not arrived in the last four years, where "recorded for these purposes" relates to nationality at the time the person was first issued with a National Insurance Number.

Lord Freud: The information requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dairy Products: Origin Marking

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 2 March (HL6363), whether they have the power to make regulations requiring origin marking of dairy products without the consent of the EU.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: We have consistently pushed within Europe for improved origin labelling on all food and these efforts have resulted in strong requirements for meat and meat products in the Food Information Regulations EU 1169/2011. We will continue to seek even stronger origin requirements for dairy products, to ensure that where the dairy ingredient of cheese, butter and cream is different from the place of manufacture this is clearly declared on the label. Where there are harmonised measures, domestic legislation normally takes into account the principles of mutual recognition to prevent deliberate trade barriers between Member States. The UK food industry recognises that country of origin information is important to British consumers and in 2011 industry developed and committed to a set of voluntary principles for clearer country of origin labelling. The proposed EU implementing act will strengthen the voluntary principles and improve the quality and consistency of origin information.

HM Treasury

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Faulks on 2 March (HL Deb, col 928), how many of those families of EU migrants in the UK that are supported by the benefits system receive child benefit alone.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The information requested is not available.

Cabinet Office

Charities: Lobbying

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 25 February (HL6124), what is their definition of "political campaigning and lobbying", and how they expect charities to establish that any expenditure on such campaigning and lobbying is funded exclusively from their own resources.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Cabinet Office's interim guidance on applying the new clause in government grant agreements can be found online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/interim-guidance-on-applying-a-new-clause-in-government-grant-agreements Grant agreements are routinely subject to conditions, as well as a monitoring/audit process. The new grant clause builds on those existing processesThe new clause has successfully been trialled by the Department for Communities and Local Government over the last 12 months.



Attachment
(PDF Document, 99.89 KB)

Graduates: Pay

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what analysis they have carried out of the average annual earnings for (1) men, (2) women, and (3) all individuals, aged between 22 and 24 inclusive who are in possession of a first degree and who are not in full-time education.

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the average earnings for (1) men, (2) women, and (3) all individuals, aged between 22 and 24 inclusive who are in possession of a first degree and who are not in full-time education in (a) the North East, (b) the North West, (c) Yorkshire, (d) the East Midlands, (e) the West Midlands, (f) East Anglia, (g) London, (h) the South East, (i) the South West, (j) Wales, (k) Scotland, and (l) Northern Ireland.

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the average earnings for (1) men, (2) women, and (3) all individuals, aged between 22 and 24 inclusive who are in possession of a first degree and who are not in full-time education in each of the 50 most populous cities in the UK.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



Referral Letter
(PDF Document, 76.61 KB)

Department of Health

Hepatitis

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 11 February (HL5795), what is the value of payments made to Operational Delivery Networks (ODN) via the Commissioning and Quality Innovation payment network in (1) total, and (2) by ODN, for each of the last three financial years.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) provide expert specialist oversight of prescribing decisions on hepatitis C. They were established in August 2015, therefore funding information is only available for 2015/16. In 2015/16, funding has been approximately £2.5 million. The majority of this amount has been via a central allocation. It is not possible to confirm the payments made to each ODN for commercial reasons. NHS England is funding ODNs via Commissioning Quality and Innovation in 2016/17 and 2017/18.

Hospitals: Private Finance Initiative

Baroness Redfern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current and future financial impact of private finance initiative projects on NHS Hospital Trusts (1) nationally, and (2) in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Lord Prior of Brampton: HM Treasury holds information on the current estimated revenue payments for the lifetime of each health sector private finance initiative (PFI) in a live online database. This shows that for the 106 National Health Service PFI schemes that have now been signed, the estimated total revenue payments (over the lifetime of their contracts) are £79.0 billion (in nominal terms i.e. including an inflation assumption). This is from the date of the first construction completions in 2000-01 to the date of the very last payment in 2049-50. The revenue payment figures include not just the financing costs (debt repayment and interest) for initial construction but also the costs of all the other services such as building maintenance and support services (cleaning, catering, portering etc) provided over the lifetime of the contract. The payments are subject to meeting agreed performance and quality standards and include an annual uprate assumption for inflation of 2.5%. This Government launched an initiative in 2011 to extract savings and optimise value for money in operational PFI contracts. This included a pilot exercise at a major NHS PFI scheme which resulted in guidance with appropriate methodology and lessons learned being issued to all relevant NHS trusts in 2012. The Department has specialist officials to assist trusts in implementing the guidance. An extract giving details of PFI schemes in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire is attached. Further information on PFI projects nationally can be accessed via HM Treasury’s website as follows. The files are too large to attach to this reply, however when searching, the ‘Current projects as at 31 March 2015’ spreadsheet should be opened. This will show the latest estimates collected from each department as at the end of March 2015; the health sector schemes are clearly marked “Department of Health” and then “DH-Acute (i.e. Hospitals)”. The initial capital cost of each scheme is shown in Column R and the annual revenue payment in the columns headed ‘Unitary Charge Payment’ (UCP). The total of UCPs (England) for 2014-15, the latest audited figure (Column AO), is £1.9 billion. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-finance-initiative-and-private-finance-2-projects-2015-summary-data   



PFI costs table 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 22.75 KB)

Health Services: Industrial Health and Safety

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the report produced by MindMetre Research How Sharp Are We On Safety?, they will take further steps to improve the mandatory compliance with EU Council Directive 2010/32/EU and the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013.

Lord Prior of Brampton: It is for individual National Health Service provider organisations to ensure that policies, procedures and practices in the affected clinical areas are consistent with current regulations and that requisitions for sharps clearly stipulate the requirement for safer sharps. We are not aware of any restriction in the availability of products that comply with the Health and Safety (Sharps Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 for the areas of care as outlined within the ‘How Sharp are we on Safety’ report, published in October 2015.